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Recreational Rowing Shells
In truth, we don't build recreation rowing shells....we do make conversion accessories which allow our boats to capture many of the virtues of the rowing shell without their defects. Rowing shells are fasts. But...they are tippy, not particularly sea-worthy and tend to have a fixed capacity. If it is a solo rowing shell, that's it, you aren't going to be taking your wife along, or your girl-friend, your boy-friend, your dog, your children or your grandchildren. |
| Our boats are versatile....they have large carrying capacities and are very sea-worthy. On occasion we have been in a race in which all rowing shells (as well as canoes and kayaks) were removed from the water due to safety concerns. And, in truth, conditions weren't particularly demanding. |
| With the addition of our sliding seat, enhanced footbrace and our feathering oars and you have an competent and versatile rowing machine. One that can also be converted in a few moments to a family-friendly picnic or fishing boat. |
| The enhanced footbrace, shown below, provides a fuller platform for pushing off at the beginning of the stroke. Plastic heel cups locate your feet correctly and Velcro straps are provided. The footbrace adjusts for different sized rowers. $150 |
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The upper components of our
sliding seat are made by George Latanzo, of Philadelphia, who also
provides components to racing shell manufacturers. We make
the cherry base on which George's components sit. Two large
thumb-screws allow the sliding seat to be added or removed from our
boats in just a few seconds. $300
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Feathering oars and oarlocks allow the rower to feather or rotate the oars so that, at the end of the stroke when you lift the blades from the water and bring them back for the next stroke, the slicing action of the edge of the blade will find less wind resistance than traditional pinned oarlocks. This custom of feathering oars has a long history and for some it is quite ingrained in their rowing technique. (Some, even on a rowing machine, will roll their hands as if they were feathering oars.) Others can't stand feathering oars. But, we figure it's good business to discover what customers want and provide it at a reasonable price. |
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Our feathering
oars are made in spruce by the venerable oar manufacturer in Maine,
Shaw & Tenney. They come in two types. The first has a leather
collar and an open-horn oarlock, see below
The second has a plastic D-shaped collar which fits together with a bronze Douglas oarlock. The oar rolls on the round part of the D....and then snaps into position on the flat side. This offers the correct orientation of the blade to the water.
If you would like to purchase them separately, instead of or in addition to our regular oars, they are $500 for the 8-ft spruce guideboat oars, $435 for the 7.5-ft spruce dory oars and $425 for the 7-ft spruce packboat oars, rowlocks included. Tandem Rowing This photo shows Steve rowing in tandem with a customer. Our regular guideboat can be rowed by two just as we now build the boat....see the second photo. The only issue is....if you don't have ballast in the stern (in this case, the lovely Kristi Karloff) the bow will dig down into the water and prove unsatisfying. Additional weight should be added to the stern to give the boat proper trim. Another possibility, (one that we are working on) is that we can install oarlocks in suitable locations so the boat will trim naturally by the weight of the rowers..
Below, with crappy Photoshop technique, we have arranged the above photo into an approximation of a properly trimmed tandem guideboat. The only variation from our usual boat is the placement of the seats and the oarlocks. However....that does lead to complexities. If someone wanted to row this boat solo...the seats and oarlocks would not be located in the proper positions. Loading the boat up with oarlocks at every rowing station is a solution....but an ugly one. Stay tuned, we may be able to come up with something better.
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If you'd like to discuss the possibilities, give us a call (802.425.3926) or drop us an e-mail and we'll see what we can work out. |
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